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MOUNTAINTOP BUSINESS EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP

Mountaintop International logo – advancing community-rooted leadership worldwide
Instructor delivering a lesson to a classroom of executive Fellows at NYU Stern
Logo of NYU Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing

Leadership Doesn’t Have to Be Lonely


12 weeks. One week at NYU Stern. A lasting foundation of clarity, community, and growth.

​The Mountaintop Business Executive Fellowship is a 12-week hybrid program for purpose-driven business leaders who want to grow their companies while driving positive impact. Delivered in partnership with the NYU Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing, this world-class executive program equips leaders with the skills, mentorship, and networks to strengthen businesses sustainably and strategically through an 11 week online training followed by a one week residency at NYU Stern.

Why This Fellowship

 

The higher the stakes, the more complex the decisions. This program is for you if:

  • You’re scaling an organization, but systems feel strained.

  • You’re growing the business, but the path forward is rarely clear.

  • You’re building a team, but sustaining culture is a constant challenge.

  • You value purpose, but profit often takes center stage.

These are the realities executives face. Delivered in partnership with the NYU Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing, the Business Executive Fellowship provides leaders with structured space to step back, evaluate strategy, and strengthen their companies. Fellows gain practical frameworks, tools, and perspectives from faculty, Fortune 500 executives, and peers who understand the realities of leadership at the highest level.

What You Gain

The Business Executive Fellowship is designed to give leaders both strategic insight and practical learning. By the end of the program, you will have:

  • A Growth Plan — a tailored roadmap to scale revenue, strengthen culture, and embed purpose in your company’s future.

  • World-Class Business Education — instruction from NYU Stern faculty and insights from Fortune 500 executives.

  • Recognized Credentials — a certificate jointly issued by the NYU Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing and Mountaintop International.

  • A Global Network — a trusted community of peers from across 175+ countries, committed to leading with purpose and tackling challenges together.​

Why Mountaintop

  • World Class Education: Learn from experts on scaling companies and building flourishing teams with faculty at NYU Stern and some of the world's most successful founders and business executives. See a sample curriculum and speaker list from a recent Mountaintop Fellowship training for nonprofit executives.

  • Deep Experience in Executive Education: Mountaintop has built seven executive programs, supporting leaders in the U.S. and across 17 countries. Partners include the Harvard Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics, MacArthur Foundation, and Trinity Church Wall Street Philanthropies.

  • World-Leading Faculty and Practitioners: Previous programs have featured faculty from Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, and speakers such as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi. 

  • Dedicated Executive Mentorship: Access 1:1 mentorship with top business leaders at any time during the Fellowship through Mountaintop's Mentor Office Hours program. See a sample of mentors here.

  • Proven Impact: Mountaintop’s Harvard-based fellowship has achieved a perfect Net Promoter Score of 100 in each of the past two years, with 100% of participants citing a transformative or significant impact on their leadership trajectory. Our most recent graduating Fellow class increased revenues by 50% and staff size by 46% year on year. Hear from the Fellows themselves at our most Harvard fellowship for nonprofit executives.

Susie Welch teaching a session at NYU Stern
Instructor delivering a lesson to participants during a leadership training session
Participant asking a question to an expert during a leadership session, with others in the room attentively observing

THE FELLOWSHIP JOURNEY

Phase 1: Online (Jan 5 – Mar 15, 2026)

 

3 hours per week. Executives train alongside 3-5 of colleagues from their companies in an 11-week online course with weekly 60-minute sessions led by world-class experts from NYU Stern and beyond. Each week, there will be one hour for an online assignment, one hour for class, and one hour to discuss learnings in "pods," a small group of Fellows leading companies at similar stages with similar business models. 

 

  • The Big Picture: Mission, values, strategy, and adaptive leadership.

  • The Team: Organizational behavior & scalable operations.

  • The Numbers: Finance, managerial accounting, and AI-driven analytics.

  • The Market: Marketing, pitching, and sales coaching.

Phase 2: In-Person Intensive (Mar 16 – 22, 2026 | NYU Stern, New York)

One transformational week in the heart of New York.

 

  • NYU Faculty: Learn from Suzy Welch (Managing Yourself: Leading with Values and Purpose), Dustin Liu (Designing Your Life), and other NYU Stern professors.

  • Practitioner Courses: Hiring, firing, performance management, negotiation, communications — led by CEOs and executives.

  • Excursions: Meet business leaders of New York’s Fortune 500 companies.

  • Workshops: Solve your real challenges with peers through live case studies.

  • Networking Dinners: Build relationships with leaders in finance, consulting, AI, and beyond.

  • Conference Access: Attend NYU Stern's one-day Purpose and Flourishing in the Age of AI conference, bringing together business executives to discuss cutting edge AI tools to strengthen your company.

 

Phase 3: Beyond The Fellowship

 

Your growth doesn’t end when the program concludes.

 

  • Lifelong Community: Remain part of Mountaintop’s 20,000+ network across 175+ countries.

  • Office Hours: Access ongoing mentorship and advice through Mountaintop’s mentor program.

  • Events & Resources: Stay connected to cutting-edge tools, convenings, and peer learning spaces.​

Fellow networking with peers during a leadership event

THE CURRICULUM: ONLINE COURSE JANUARY 5 - MARCH 15, 2026

 

The Business Executive Fellowship is built for busy executives who don’t have time for a two-year MBA — but need the same caliber of tools, frameworks, and networks. In just 3 hours per week, you’ll gain MBA-level insights distilled for immediate application to your company. Every module ties directly into your Growth Plan, so you leave with a strategy that’s not only learned but already tested.

 

The Big Picture:

 

  • Holistic Life Design – Define your mission, vision, and values with peers.

  • Adaptive Leadership – Diagnose organizational challenges and respond with agility, using the Harvard Kennedy School’s flagship framework.

  • Business Models & Strategy – Refine business models for growth and apply decision-making frameworks to navigate uncertainty.

 

The Team:

 

  • Organizational Behavior – Analyze the human dynamics that drive culture and management performance.

  • Operations Management – Design scalable systems to improve efficiency and execution.

The Numbers:

 

  • Financial Decision-Making – Apply Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), and other tools to real investment decisions.

  • Managerial Accounting – Use cost-volume-profit analysis, breakeven points, and contribution margins to guide resource allocation.

  • Data Analytics – Harness A/B testing, linear regressions, and AI-driven data visualization to sharpen strategic decisions.

 

The Customers & Funders:

 

  • Marketing Strategy – Master customer research, segmentation, targeting, positioning, distribution, and brand management.

  • Pitching & Sales – Build persuasive decks and practice high-stakes pitches with direct coaching.

THE CURRICULUM: ONE WEEK INTENSIVE MARCH 16 - 22, 2026

 

One week in New York City. A rare chance to step out of the day-to-day and learn from the leaders who shape the business world. The residency is not a conference or a classroom. It’s a full-immersion experience where you’ll learn directly from CEOs, faculty, and peers — and leave with tools you can apply the very next day.

 

Courses with Business Leaders

 

  • Hiring & Firing with Clarity – Learn how top CEOs approach the toughest leadership calls, from building pipelines of talent to making exits with dignity.

  • Performance at Scale – Design systems that turn accountability, feedback, and data into world-class team performance.

  • Negotiation in Practice – Master strategies to reach durable, win–win agreements even in hostile or high-stakes environments.

  • Communications Mastery – Refine your external influence (brand, positioning, reputation) and internal authority (team, Board, new hires).

 

 Exclusive Experiences

 

  • Business Leader Access – Step into the headquarters of New York’s leading companies. Learn how C-suite leaders scale, negotiate, and build culture in the most competitive market in the world.

  • Live Case Workshops – Bring your toughest business challenge. Work through it with peers in interactive case studies, and leave with tested strategies.

  • The Growth Plan Lab – Refine your customized Growth Plan under faculty and peer review. Select Fellows present to the cohort in a capstone showcase.

​​

By the end of the residency, you won’t just have learned — you’ll have practiced, pressure-tested, and prepared yourself to lead at the highest level.

CONFIRMED FACULTY

Audience of emerging leaders engaging with an expert panel discussion
ADMISSIONS

Mountaintop and NYU Stern's Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing are looking for business leaders who are ready to grow their companies with purpose.

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Eligibility

  • Be a Founder, CEO C-Suite executive, or other manager at a for-profit company driven by purpose.​​

  • Purpose takes many forms:

    • People: building teams that are happy, healthy, and fulfilled.

    • Place: driving economic opportunity in underserved communities.

    • Planet: embedding environmental sustainability into core strategy.

    • Product: creating solutions that improve the lives of lower and middle income people.​

  • Committed to 3 hours/week of online course work and class time from January 5th - March 15th, 2026.

  • Committed to attending the 7-day course at NYU Stern in New York City March 16th-22nd, 2026.

Visual cue showing this step is for eligible candidates

Values Alignment

  • Leaders who want to grow their companies without losing their values.

  • Executives who want both hard skills (finance, operations, strategy) and deep reflection (leadership, life design, purpose).

  • Passion for continuous learning and desire to share knowledge with peer business leaders.

YOUR INVESTMENT

Invest in the future not just for yourself, but also for your team and company. 

As a nonprofit, we have designed the Business Executive Fellowship to be as financially accessible as possible for business leaders around the world. Thanks to recent grants, we have recently reduced the cost of the program by more than 50%.

Option 1: $5,000 (Includes Hotel): 

 

  • Tuition for both online + in-person components.

  • Daily breakfast and lunch at NYU Stern.

  • Complimentary access to the “Purpose and Flourishing in the Age of AI” conference

  • 7 nights’ private accommodation in a queen-bed room at Arlo Soho, a four-star hotel, included as part of the discounted group booking (20-minute walk from NYU).

Option 2: $3,000 (Tuition Only)

  • Tuition for both online + in-person components.

  • Daily breakfast and lunch at NYU Stern.

  • Complimentary access to the “Purpose and Flourishing in the Age of AI” conference

  • Fellows arrange their own accommodation in New York.

Additional Notes

  • Fellows cover flights and visa costs for those outside the US.

  • Mountaintop provides comprehensive support, including visa application guidelines, official support letters, interview preparation resources, and travel planning guidance.

Ways Fellows typically cover tuition:

 

  •  Employer sponsorship (professional development funds).

  •  CSR, impact investing, or foundation support.

  •  Personal/professional investment.

  •  Limited 50% scholarships for high-need candidates.

TIMELINE

Seats are intentionally limited. Each cohort is small to maximize access to faculty, mentors, and peers.

Applications 

July 7 - October 31, 2025

Includes a resume, leadership and company information, short written reflections, and optional scholarship request.

Selection

November 1 - November 15, 2025

Virtual finalist interview with Mountaintop staff.

On-Boarding and Preparation

November 15 - December 31, 2025

Confirming finances and logistics, including visa application support for Fellows traveling from outside the US. Mountaintop requires full tuition payments no later than December 15, 2025.

Online Course

January 5 - March 15, 2026

3 hours/week of course work.

Course at NYU Stern

March 16 - 22, 2026

All-day courses at NYU led by world class faculty and practitioners.

Mountaintop Fellow sharing a personal testimonial about their leadership journey
"Mountaintop was an incredible experience — a space to learn from and with other inspiring leaders, and to get tips from experts on how to better run our organizations."

Dhruva Bhat, 2025 Mountaintop Executive Fellow and

Co-Founder, Lumiere (Chennai, India)

For any questions, please contact us at arnav.sinha@mountaintop.international, or set up a 1:1 call with our staff using this link.

Symbol of Mountaintop International
Edmond and Lily Safra Foundation seal – Mountaintop Fellowship partner
NYU Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing seal – leadership and purpose partner of Mountaintop Fellowship
Trinity Church Wall Street logo – faith-based leadership partner of Mountaintop Fellowship

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